Guelph Collegiate Vocational Institute
Upper Grand District School Board
Course Outline
Department: Geography
Course Title: Forces of Nature: Physical
processes and Disasters
Course Type:M
Grade:11
Course Code: CGF 3M
Credit Value: 1.0
Department Head: Joanne Robb
Teachers: Joanne Robb
Teacher email: (not mandatory) Joanne.Robb@ugdsb.on.ca
Date of Development: September 2015
Curriculum Document: (copy subject-specific
document from secondary curriculum website
http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/curriculum/second
ary/)
Course Prerequisites/Corequisites:
Issues in Canadian Geography, Grade 9,
Academic or Applied
Course Description:
In this course, students will explore physical processes related to earth's water, land, and air.
They will investigate how these processes shape the planet's natural characteristics and
affect human systems, how they are involved in the creation of natural disasters, and how
they influence the impacts of human disasters. Throughout the course, students will apply the
concepts of geographic thinking and the geographic inquiry process and use spatial
technologies to analyse these processes, make predictions related to natural disasters, and
assess ways of responding to them.
Term Work (70% of the final mark)
Unit Title, Big Ideas, and Unit Culminating Tasks
Spatial organization: Spheres of the Earth: Powerful natural processes formed the earth and
continue to change and mould the outer spheres of the earth. Spheres assignment, unit test
Tectonic Hazards: People in different regions of the world need different strategies to deal
with potential disasters. Tectonic report, unit test
Niagara Escarpment: The earth today is a result of many natural processes. These
processes continue to change. Field report, debate.
Erosion and its hazards: Natural processes and disasters can cause social, economic,
political, and environmental problems. Unit test
Weather and Climate: The natural environment has an impact on human activity and vice
versa. Oral presentation
Culminating Tasks/Exams (30% or the final mark)
Course Culminating Task/Exams and Description
Written Exam
Based on the range of students’ learning needs, a selection from the strategies listed below may be
utilized. Refer to list of teaching and assessment strategies.
Teaching Strategies:
Strategies include but are not limited to: lectures, debates, computer simulations, discussion,
socratic methods, arcgis software, etc.
Assessment and evaluation strategies:
Assessments include both formative and summative and may include:
tests
debates
research reports
field studies
oral presentations
exam
Textbooks/Learning Resource Materials (align with Policy 603)
Chasmer, Hume, Wallace: Earth Matters
Fees for Learning Materials/Activities
Learning Materials/Activities
Niagara Escarpment field trip
Cost
$20
Please refer to the GCVI Student Handbook for our school policies on:
● academic integrity
● late and missed assignments